Out of Gas ??

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In watching the scores and results coming in from nationals, I have noticed many teams say they are out of gas when their run finally ends. I was curious if it is just the dynamic of coming through the losers bracket with that level of competion,is it roster size or some other factor that leads to this ?
The deabate of the teams from the west carrying a much larger roster than we do here in the midwest and is it a neccesity to be able to truly compete for the title at ASA/USA's? and if so how does the midwest change their mentality?

And to all way to represent Ohio at nationals !!!!!!!

 

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In this case, Out Of Gas was because of the heat. Every day was at or above 100 degrees in College Station. Play a couple of good teams (and they were all good!) in the same day in this heat, and your energy level is wiped out.

Some teams played with large rosters, which allowed them to always have some fresh players on the field.

 

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In watching the scores and results coming in from nationals, I have noticed many teams say they are out of gas when their run finally ends. I was curious if it is just the dynamic of coming through the losers bracket with that level of competion,is it roster size or some other factor that leads to this ?
The deabate of the teams from the west carrying a much larger roster than we do here in the midwest and is it a neccesity to be able to truly compete for the title at ASA/USA's? and if so how does the midwest change their mentality?

And to all way to represent Ohio at nationals !!!!!!!

When we were at 16U ASA in Souix Falls last year I watched a Cali team get off their bus...it seemed like the line of players was never going to end! I think they had enough players to change the defense completely at least 3 times during a single game. Being from Cali I asked Crystl if all the teams out there are like that and she said most are. There are girls who know they have no other job than to be a bull pen catcher, some know they will never do anything but run for another player. Maybe there are so many players out there that they are okay with that just to be on a team that goes that far. But there are girls in college and even the NPF who have specific roles and nothing else.

I wonder how many parents in our part of the country would be okay with paying the fees and doing the travel and only have their daughter run for another player a couple times a weekend or do nothing but warm up the pitchers? I don't think people here would be as happy with that situation as they are out there. Maybe it has to do with numbers out there vs. here, or maybe it has to do with wanting to get the title.

 

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Sixshootersmom:

We lost our last game at Moline to a team that had a roster of 17. But from what I understand, with the number of friendly games that can be played and practices that can be held in Cali or Texas, college coaches are still looking quite closely at those players who get limited tournament playing time on the prestigious big-roster teams. Eventually it would be great for Ohio to have some teams like that, although I think managing them would be a nightmare and would probably send me to an early grave.

 

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It's easier to carry that many with the sponsorships that some of these teams have.

 

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I don't know if it as much having as a large roster as it is staying out of the loser's bracket. It is a whole lot easier to play when the players can rest and relax between games than play back to back games.

 

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In this case, Out Of Gas was because of the heat. Every day was at or above 100 degrees in College Station. Play a couple of good teams (and they were all good!) in the same day in this heat, and your energy level is wiped out.

Some teams played with large rosters, which allowed them to always have some fresh players on the field.

There is a book I think titled the Winning State of Softball.

He alludes to the body as being a furnace and how we fuel the furnace is what keeps us going during games.

For every 15 minutes on the field you should drink 8 ounces of water, not pop!

Between games, nuts, fruit, peanut butter not pizza, hot dogs or hamburgers.

Try to lie down and let your brain rest.

When I see teams with parents who have planned to have healthy snacks as mentioned above you usually see them get the desired results on the field.

 

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Good reply.

Can we take this one step further?

I have heard that the girls shouldn't be drinking water during games - but, instead, Gatorade/Powerade. Supposedly, the electrolyte replacement that sports drinks provides helps maintain your energy level - where all water does is stave off dehydration.

'Any educated thoughts on this?

 

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We played 6 games in about 19 hours in 100 plus degree heat. That is what happens when you hit the losers bracket. As much as the heat was the fact that we walked off the field after 1am Saturday morning(4th game in a row) and played again at 9 am(2games). The legs were gone as much as the mental strain of battling some great teams.

 

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Good reply.

Can we take this one step further?

I have heard that the girls shouldn't be drinking water during games - but, instead, Gatorade/Powerade. Supposedly, the electrolyte replacement that sports drinks provides helps maintain your energy level - where all water does is stave off dehydration.

'Any educated thoughts on this?

This link should answer your questions in detail in my opinion.

http://www.thesoko.com/thesoko/article1095-1.html

 

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I keep energy bars in the dug out for the players just for this reason. . .it allows them to replace some of their spent energy during the game. As fars as the water vs. gator ade/power ade, I too just recently heard the same thing from one of my parents that's a critical care nurse. Water is ok, but it doesn't replace the electrolytes that are being lost due to the amount of energy being spent. We try to have the girls work with both to ensure no dehydration and to continue add the ade's to the mix.

 

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There is a book I think titled the Winning State of Softball.

He alludes to the body as being a furnace and how we fuel the furnace is what keeps us going during games.

For every 15 minutes on the field you should drink 8 ounces of water, not pop!

Between games, nuts, fruit, peanut butter not pizza, hot dogs or hamburgers.

Try to lie down and let your brain rest.

When I see teams with parents who have planned to have healthy snacks as mentioned above you usually see them get the desired results on the field.

I've had doctors, nutritionists and sports trainers tell me that plain water works just fine. As far as electrolyte replacement, I'd ask a professional that doesn't have a vested interest in any particular sports drink - and do your research about which sports activities benefit the most from electrolyte replacement. Also, check the salt and glucose levels of the sports drink of choice.

"For every 15 minutes on the field you should drink 8 ounces of water, not pop!

Between games, nuts, fruit, peanut butter not pizza, hot dogs or hamburgers."

I have always been puzzled at the absence of these sensible foods for the players at tournament concession stands! Just one more reason to ALLOW COOLERS at tournaments - because if the TD only provides comfort food for the fans, how are the PLAYERS expected to sustain themselves? Walking Tacos???

 

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so then, if 17 players (just a magic number) is what it takes to stave off the deathly wobbly legs after a long day in the (insert state here) heat, then it makes sense to get extyra players for nationals then, eh?
but then when you take extra players to nationals, it makes all the parents upset, someone starts ahead of the golden child or someone complains that if a parent is willing to spend hotel/travel fare to be a backup at nationals, then shouldn't they deserve some playing time as well?
i know some of the teams from Ohio went with about, on average, 10-12 players. Meaning, you couldn't really sub in a whole bunch, so the pitchers and catchers, your stud players also, were on the field 24/7. After 3 games in one day, out of gasness is inevitable.
In the end, it begs to answer this simple question: are we built to WIN the darn thing, or for the exposure? If it's to win, i say take a van and load up the players, call it the Yankees FC. If it's for exposure, you play it out, make well with the college coaches and be done. No worries either way and everyone goes home happy. i would think as a 12-14u team, you're going to go to win it, or it's a nice vacation, let's be honest. then rent a bus and whip some butt. At 16's, it's either exposure or exposure, so you live with the 12 girls you got, heat be damned.

 

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I'm with you Statman.

But, we all know that if you're in Insert State Here and in the final 16 of 162 teams at ASA Nationals, the coach is going for the Big W and suddenly all the "exposure" ideals are gone......... He/She is riding the 9 horses that will win it all.

I'm not agreeing with the notion, I'm just saying that that's what will happen!

 

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Was recently at a tournament in Nebraska, and one of the umpires who had flown in was drinking Pedialyte. She was also ironically a Nurse Practitioner, and she only drank Pedialyte and water during long hot tournament days. Most of my associations with said product are negative(always got told to get it when the kids had diarrhea or fevers) but it seemed to make a lot of sense. I personally switched to the Powerade Zero due to doctor's orders. As far as # of players-talked about this earlier-think of it as a math equation-if you only take 10-12, and they can all perform at 100% first game at 9 am, but then the starters all lose say 5-10% per game due to heat no matter how you try to hydrate them, then by your 5th game in the loser's bracket on Sat, when you get a team that has played one or two games and just fell in, you might have some of your kids down 30=50 % below peak performance. We just went through this last weekend at a soc#er tournament-one team brought 3 complete lineups and subbed them in and out every ten minutes- we won the first half and got worn out in second. And if you finish at 1 am Sunday morning and have to be back at 8, then no way does your battery get recharged. And I agree with Howard and others, either let coolers in or provide sensible snack options.

 

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If you are going for exposure only and have 10 to 12 kids and play in 100 degree weather and your kids run out of gas ............ what kind of exposure are they having?.The reason the teams are so successful out west is they play in that environment........ their kids are acclimated to it, and they have deep enough rosters to offset any shortage of gas by a player by subbing in a fresh one. Or subbing before the gas gauge reads empty.

In my opinion another reason for their success is they are proactive toward subbing players, To keep the system going and not being reactive and letting a kid crash and burn on the field in front of college coaches, and then replacing her with someone.

Lastly, think of all the kids on those west coast travel teams, looks like a college dugout, with 15 to 21 players in it.......... every kid is fighting for a spot, every at bat , every pitch, catch and throw become more important I, guarantee you you wont find the you owe me mentality that us mid west coaches are faced with by some players and their parents.......... its about the team....... if the team succeeds the players that make it succeed will be successful also..........

 

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And did any of the coaches have a water/witch hazel solution to "cool" off the girls at the tournament and the extreme heat? Every Southern team I ever ran into has this as a "staple" in their dugout. The "mixture" allows the body to cool and opens up pores to sweat.. to which it cools the body.

Never figured out why Ohio teams have not used this venue as well in their dugouts.

 

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And did any of the coaches have a water/witch hazel solution to "cool" off the girls at the tournament and the extreme heat? Every Southern team I ever ran into has this as a "staple" in their dugout. The "mixture" allows the body to cool and opens up pores to sweat.. to which it cools the body.

Never figured out why Ohio teams have not used this venue as well in their dugouts.

I'll admit I didn't use it this year. . . why because I need to get the recipe from a former parent who made it every game last year. . .believe me that stuff works!

OK Waite and it over and quickly!

 

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"Liniments are especially useful in hot weather to help a hot horse cool down: the alcohols help the product to quickly evaporate, and the oils they contain cause the capillaries in the skin to dilate, also increasing the cooling process."

"Sloan's Liniment was once a popular over-the-counter drug store item that people used for this very purpose, probably before the widespread use of air conditioning."
---source: Wikipedia

Anyone who's worked with horses knows about giving liniment spongedowns in hot weather to cool down the horse. Soak them down with the liniment, then scrape it off...

I've seen liniment used by a softball team in diluted form (sponge in a bucket). This is probably not too common in the northern states, but in the south it's a LOT hotter in summer and the season is longer.

 

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Very Rare an Ohio team will win a National, the bigger quest is to get the ladies seen by a wider array of coaches than what they normally would locally. That said, how many kids playing on the Ohio rosters even want to go to a school more than 300 miles from home? At the end of the day, very few....

Go to the Natl's if you wish to show your 12 proudly and let them do their best for as long as they can. To pay that much money to have 9 kids sitting on bench, is a waste of talent....